The 1957 to 1958 Commission

HMS Gambia at Rosyth during her 1957/58 Commission. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia on her 1957/58 Commission. Photo from Christine Deane. HMS Gambia in dry dock at Colombo, Ceylon during her 1957/58 commission. Photo from Christine Deane Mail for the lads in the Med. 1957/58 commission. Photo from Christine Deane Refueling at sea off Muscat with RFA Wave Premier during her 1957/58 commission. Photo from Christine Deane

A pennnant that was available from the NAAFI for the 1957/58 commission

A pennant that was available from the ship's NAAFI for the 1957/58 commission

The Commissioning Ceremony at Rosyth in 1957

In July 2017, Terry Craig who was an electrical mechanician on HMS Gambia's 1957/58 commission very kindly sent these newspaper cuttings about the commissioning of the ship:

Rosyth Ceremony

History was made at Rosyth Dockyard yesterday when the 8,000-ton cruiser HMS Gambia was recommissioned after a 12-month refit. She is the first major war vessel to be commissioned at Rosyth. Built at Wallsend, the cruiser was lent to the New Zealand Navy between 1953 and 1945 and saw action with the United States Third Fleet against the Japanese home islands. At the end of 1945 the Gambia was anchored in Tokio Bay and was present during the signing of the Japanese surrender.

The Navy Accepts £1,500,00 Refit

The cruiser Gambia (8,000 tons) was recommissioned at Rosyth dockyard yesterday after the first Scots naval dockyard refit since Rosyth opened in 1911.

The refit cost more than £1,500,00 and the Admiralty officially praised the Rosyth Dockyard men's job.

Image caption: Royal Marines drawn up on the deck ... ship's company on the quay - the cruiser Gambia is recommissioned after a Rosyth refit.

Inset: Vice-Admiral Pelly, admiral superintendent of Rosyth Dockyard.

Terry Craig is the sailor circled in ink at the center of the picture.

Terry also very kindly sent these photos of the commission:

HMS Gambia's joining pamphlet, 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. The electrical mess. The back row includes Allen Todd, Jock Patterson, and Strumps Hendry. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. The electrical branch, 1957 - 1958. EM Brassington, LREM McArthy, ?, ?, REM Tony Sladin, ? Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Terry Craig and his first fish. HMS Gambia, 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. JEM Stenner, Ted Sayers, Terry Craig, Taffy Pritchard, and Bill ? Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. EM Taffy Hayman (standing), EM Duncan Graham (obscured), and EM Lintern. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Taffy Pritchard, Terry Craig, Jan Moran. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Electrical Mechanicians Terry Craig and Ted Sayers; 5E2 Mess. July 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. EM Terry Craig, LEM Buffy, EM Steel, EM Lintern. 5E2 Mess, December 27 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. HMS Gambia, Christmas 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Swimming gala at RAF Khormaksar,Aden on January 5, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Taffy Hayman, Allan Todd, and Terry Craig. All were Electrical Mechanicians on HMS Gambia's 1957/58 commission. Photo taken at the swimming gala at RAF Khormaksar,Aden on January 5, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. HMS Gambia's Paying Off Pennant, Grand Harbour, Malta, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Geordie Todd (Allen?) and Terry Craig at Perth War Memorial, 2004. Both were Electrical Mechanicians on the 1957/58 commission. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig. Geordie Todd (Allen?) and Terry Craig leving Perth in 2004. Both were Electrical Mechanicians on the 1957/58 commission. Photo kindly supplied by Terry Craig.

Terry also remembers a little bit of trivia, "When we were stocking up with beer for our commission to the East Indies Station in 1957, a lot of it was stowed in between the bulkheads down below some storerooms. Inside the bulkhead was a painted flag of New Zealand. Must have been done when they stocked up with beer?"


In April 2019, I was sent a photo from Brian Saunders of the HMS Superb Association website. It shows an impromptu concert by crew members of HMS Gambia, Ocean and Superb on HMS Albion on May 28, 1957. Albion and Ocean were Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carriers, and Superb a Minotaur-class light cruiser.

The photo shows the "Gambits" from H.M.S. Gambia, "The Skowballs" from H.M.S. Superb, and the "Oceanaires" from H.M.S. Ocean. Three skiffle groups, seen rehearsing aboard H.M.S. Albion for the concert party to be given for the Queen. According to Alamy who are selling copies of the photo, it was taken by Keystone Press, USA during rehearsals on May 5, 1957.

Impromptu concert on HMS Albion

In May 1957, Gambia was the last flagship on the Persian Gulf station. She was ordered home at the beginning of the month arriving in Invergordon on May 21. A Royal Review took place May 27 – 29. After this, Gambia spent the summer flying the flag around Scandinavia. She returned to Rosyth on September 19, 1958.

Part of the Home Fleet Royal Review, May 1957


Sometime in May 1957, probably between May 21 and May 28, the ship played host to a party of students from Strathallan School near Perth, Scotland. The June 1957 edition of the school magazine The Strathallian records the visit:

A Visit to H.M.S. Gambia

One Thursday in May some of the Royal Naval section paid a visit to H.M.S. Gambia, a cruiser of the Fiji class. The ship was undergoing sea-trials on the Firth of Forth.

In order to reach Rosyth docks at seven o’clock the party had to rise at five in the morning. A light breakfast was taken at school, and this served to keep the party awake during their car journey to the docks. Once through the barrier at the entrance to the docks, the party was hurried on board H.M.S. Gambia, and fallen in on deck. They were then split up into two parts, and placed where they could see the activities taking place while the ship was leaving harbour. However, owing to the bitterly cold wind which was blowing, the party soon re-united around the funnel, which served effectively as a heater.

When the ship had left harbour, the party were taken below to the Royal Marines mess, where a first-class breakfast of cold herring and three boiled eggs per person was served. When the dishes had been washed and the mess tidied, the party went above again, to the ship’s cinema. There they were given a lecture on damage control, this being the procedure to be followed by the crew in the event of any damage being done to the ship. After this they were led below by a Midsnipman, and taken to the ship’s wheel. When permission from the bridge had been granted, two or three cadets had a spell at the wheel, and then they were taken to the Communications centre, where some complicated computors and radar apparatus were shown to them.

The next item was a practical lesson on manoeuvering and tiring 40 m.m. A.A. guns. There was, of course, no ammunition, but as the main attraction was the joy-stick control which turned and elevated the gun, this did not really matter. Before everybody had been on it, however, they had to go below for lunch, which included almost unlimited chicken, figs and custard. The party then returned to the ship’s cinema, where they were given a talk on the part which the Navy had played during the Suez crisis. The lesson on the gun was then completed, and they were given a demonstration of the six inch gun by the ship’s crew. There followed another spell on the wheel, and a visit to the boiler room.

At tea some cadets found a shop, where they procured refreshments. The party was then divided into two again, one half going to the ship’s wheel, while the other watched a boat being hoisted overboard. By this time they were approaching the Forth Bridge, and once the ship had been moored to a buoy, they went ashore, and started the journey back.

Judging by the animated conversation at table back at school, the party had spent a most informative and enjoyable day.

In her 2018 PhD thesis, Stages of the Sea: 20th Century Theatrical Entertainment in the Royal Navy for Warwick University, Sarah Penny wrote of the various parties and visits held on Royal Navy ships, including HMS Gambia.


This extract comes from Distant Drums: The Role of Colonies in British Imperial Warfare by Ashley Jackson.

HMS Gambia served as East Indies Station flagship in 1955-56 and again in 1957-58. Band Corporal Michael Hutton served aboard the cruiser during her 1957-58 commission. She sailed from Chatham on 17 October 1957 to relieve HMS Ceylon, then the East Indies Station flagship. The two ships met at Bahrein, where, on 6 November 1957, Gambia received the flag of the Commander-in-Chief East Indies Station. Gambia spent a month visiting places such as Um Qassar, Abadan, and Basra, 'where the ship's concert party gave its first performance, then back to Aden for Christmas.'

On board were twenty-five Somalian ratings under Chief Tindal, Noor Sulliman, a man with thirty-two years of Royal Navy experience behind him. They had been collected from British Somaliland on the way, and remained working on board the ship throughout its commission. Whilst in the Gulf Gambia took part in Exercise Crescent, a NATO and Baghdad Pact exercise involving the cruiser and two frigates from Britain, along with vessels from America, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.

After Christmas the ship sailed for Ceylon via Berbera in British Somaliland, where the band Beat Retreat on the beach. At Trincomalee half the ship's company went on leave, after which the Indian Cruise began, bringing visits to Madras, Vizagapatan, and Calcutta. Returning to Ceylon for minor repairs in dry dock, the crew went to the rest camp at Diyatalawa. Most of the band members were billeted with tea planters families, though Hutton spent a dry week with the Reverend Tom Arnold, who 'played a mean piano' but was 'a bit short on the hard stuff.'

After Ceylon, Gambia visited the west coast of India and called at Malé in the Maldives, where the band performed numerous concert parties and Beat Retreat. It was then on to Bombay, and, the Indian Cruise at an end, to Aden, 'where we stayed for some time due to local trouble'. A second Persian Gulf Cruise was cancelled, so the ship returned to Ceylon for the annual JET exercises, stopping off for a week in Karachi en route. 'Here there were many engagements to cope with, cocktail parties, dinners ashore at the High Commissioner's residence, and return visits on the Gambia.' The last week of the JET exercises were spent ashore by the band, who had acted as lookouts whilst the ship was at defence stations during the exercise.

Now the task was to train with the Indian and Ceylon Navy Bands for the combined Massed Bands Retreat that would herald the end of the JET exercises. HMS Gambia then embarked on 'the best and busiest part of the year, the East African Cruise, lots of hard work ahead but plenty of pleasure too.' Mauritius, the Seychelles, Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, and Mombasa were visited before the ship returned to Aden and then sailed home to Chatham.


Crossing the Arctic Circle

On September 21, 1957, HMS Gambia crossed the Arctic Circle at 66° 33' N, 9° 28' W. Electrical Mechanician William Casbolt and Chief Petty Officer Leonard Coombe received their certificates for crossing it.

William Casbolt's and Leonard Coombe's Arctic Circle Certificates

William Casbolt's and Leonard Coombe's Arctic Circle Certificates

The text reads:

A Proclamation

Be it known to all Masters, Mates, Matlots, Marines and Mariners who Sail the Seven Seas

Know ye that on the twenty first day of September in the year 1957 HMS Gambia did cross ye Arctic Circle in Latitude 66° 33' and in Longtitude 9° 28' E having on board

who shall henceforth be numbered amongst the numbed and we of this Northern Court of King Neptune do hereby declare him a lifelong member of

Our Numb Friends League
(Northern Branch)

and demand that all Denizens of the Darksome Deep in these Regions do give him Right Warm Welcome on all future visits.


Eric W. Bearman served in Supply during the 1957/58 commission. I am not sure how Bill Hartland came by these photos.

Mess 35, Christmas 1957. Eric Bearman in on the far right. This photo was taken in Abadan in 1958. Unfortunately that is all I know about this photo, but I think the guy in whites in the front of the group is Eric Bearman who served in Supply. Eric Bearman is in a hat with glasses on the right of this photo. Eric Bearman on the left in what looks like a gun crew. From the left, Eric, Ted Slater, Roy Finlow, Bob Roberts, Bill Bevan, Whacker Payne The picure was taken in 1958 and originally named 'Fibs Marshall Eric Shorty Jet.' Eric Bearman is sitting, second from the right


Royal Marines

Ernest "Bill" Hartland was a Royal Marine Bandsman on the 1957/58 commission. Bill was the author of the original HMS Gambia website this one is based on. He very kindly sent these photos:

Peter Hartell and Bill Hartland in 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Rock Hotel Roof Garden 1957/8. The Royal Marine third from the right was Bill's opponent in the 1955 Corps Welter-weight Boxing championships. Bill beat him on points. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Aden in 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Aden in 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Concert in Victoria Park, Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland The Royal Marines band on HMS Gambia in 1958. Crossing the Line ceremony. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Peter Hartell and Graham Dench on 'B' gun deck in 1958. Graham later became a pastor to the Fishermens Guild in Scotland. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Royal Marine Bandsmen Erik Gaze, ???, Bill Hartland and Peter Westaway. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland A party on an English liner at Bombay. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland

Michael Hutton was also a Royal Marine Bandsman Corporal, on HMS Gambia's 1957/58 commission and he provided the following photos:

Bandmaster Doug Haigh. Photo provided by Michael Hutton Erik Gaze, Ian Langford, Bill Hartland & Pete Westaway on the upper deck somewhere in the deepest darkest Indian Ocean. Photo provided by Michael Hutton Group of band members outside E Block in North Barracks. L to R: Jan Kesterton, Nobby Clarke, Don Peerless, Erik Gaze, Pete Westaway, Taff Russell, Selwyn Horner, Ian Langford, David 'Sticks' Macklin, Graham Dench and 'Shacks' Prince. Photo provided by Michael Hutton Ian Langford with kit-bag and hammock. Photo provided by Michael Hutton Moving from Ship to shore somewhere in Scotland on return from Norway? Band Sergeant Dan O'Conell in the middle looking particularly pissed off! Photo provided by Michael Hutton All smiles as we leave the Gambia in Chatham. Don Peerless, Sticks Macklin, Dan O'Connell & Jan Kesterton. Photo provided by Michael Hutton

Bob Jackson was a Royal Marine on the 1957/58 commission. In August 2017, he very kindly sent these photos:

Commissioning at Rosyth, May 1, 1957. Photo kindly supplied by Bob Jackson The Queen reviewing the Home Fleet in Cromarty Firth, Ma7 27, 1957 27/5/57. The photo was taken from HMS Gambia and kindly supplied by Bob Jackson. Crossing the Line, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bob Jackson Royal Marines on exercise in the Persian Gulf, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bob Jackson Paying Off Pennant. Valletta, Malta 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bob Jackson

As Royal Marine Bandsmen, both Bill Hartland and Michael Hutton contributed photos and stories of their time as Marines on The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines website


HMS Gambia's commissioning service cover. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia's commissioning service. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia's commissioning service. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia in dry dock at Colombo, Ceylon. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia in dry dock at Colombo, Ceylon. Photo from Christine Deane HMS Gambia on her 1957/58 Commission. Photo from Christine Deane. Mail for the lads in the Med. Photo from Christine Dean Refueling at sea off Muscat with RFA Wave Premier. Photo from Christine Deane Transferring a torpedo tube to HMS Tudor. Photo from Christine Deane Transferring a torpedo tube to HMS Tudor. Photo from Christine Deane Transferring a torpedo tube to HMS Tudor. Photo from Christine Deane Peter Holtham and David Judge in 1958. Photo from Christine Deane The photo was originally captioned 'The Terrible Three at the Taj Restaurant, Bombay'. David is on the right of this trio, but unfortunately I do not know who the other two are. Photo from Christine Deane David Judge enjoying a 'quiet whet,' Aden, October 1957. Photo from Christine Deane Forecastle division. Photo from Christine Deane Divisiona!! Photo from Christine Deane

The cover of David Judge's memoirsDavid Arthur Judge MBE served out his two-years' National Service on HMS Gambia's 1957/58 commission. In August through to October 2019, David's daughter, Christine, very kindly sent me a copy of a memoir that he wrote while serving and all the above photos.


Crossing the Line

In July 1958, HMS Gambia crossed the equator...

The Royal Marines band on HMS Gambia in 1958. Crossing the Line ceremony. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Crossing the Line ceremony, July 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Crossing the Line, 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bob Jackson Crossing the Line ceremony, July 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Crossing the Line ceremony, July 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland Crossing the Line ceremony, July 1958. Photo kindly supplied by Bill Hartland


Sources

Distant Drums: The Role of Colonies in British Imperial Warfare by Ashley Jackson. Sussex Academic Press, 2010